


Diaper Aisle Heroics

by nickel710



Series: streamlined [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Babysitting, Cap Steve, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, modern!Bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-23 10:21:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16157084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nickel710/pseuds/nickel710
Summary: Companion piece to How Buzzfeed Helped; occurs about three years after the epilogue. Definitely spoilers in this for the main fic but otherwise it's just a short, cute moment.While babysitting for Bucky's sister, Steve must face the cold, isolating straits of the diaper aisle, perhaps his most daunting mission yet.





	Diaper Aisle Heroics

**Author's Note:**

> some readers asked for all of the following which kinda sorta appear here, some obviously and some if you squint: update on Bucky's family, Steve and Bucky babysitting, public reaction to Steve/Bucky. enjoy!

When presented with the choice to either stay home alone with his niece and nephew or go to the store for diapers, Steve tried to sell Bucky on Plan C: call someone to bring them diapers instead.

“Steve,” Bucky said flatly, bouncing the finicky baby Joey in his arms, “we’re like a two minute walk from the convenience store.” He moved as if to hand Joey off, thinking Steve’s reluctance to choose an option came from his desire not to leave the house. 

Steve backed away from the proffered baby with his hands up in the universal “do not hand that to me” gesture. “I’ll go,” he said. Bucky rolled his eyes, hugging Joey back to him, patting the baby’s back consolingly. 

“Uncle Bee, Uncle Steve!” Elena shouted from the living room. “Come look at what I drew!”

Bucky sighed and pulled his husband in for a kiss. “You have the brand and size written down?” he checked. Steve nodded, so Bucky gently pushed on his shoulder to send him to the door before calling back to Elena, “Coming, sweetheart!”

Steve put on his false glasses and baseball cap, tugging on boots and a coat and jamming his hands into the pockets as he slipped out the front door. It wasn’t that he was _scared_ of being by himself with just Lennie and Joey, but what if something went wrong? What if Joey started to scream and Steve couldn’t calm him down? What if Lennie asked him a question he didn’t know the answer to? What if he fed her too much chocolate and poisoned her—no that was dogs, Steve, get a grip.

He kept his head down as he jogged down the stairs to street level, then made his way in the dim evening light toward the convenience store. It wasn't that he didn't _like_ Elena and Joey— he did. In fact, he loved them. Elena, now five years old, had no concept of a life without Steve in it, and she treated him with the same affectionate adoration as she did Bucky. And Steve was a sucker for her big brown eyes and wild imagination, the way she was so _clever_ , like really, was it normal for a five year old to be so fucking _wise_ — 

And then Ellie and Liam had Joey and Steve had felt like he was having an asthma attack the first time he held the six and a half pound newborn in his arms, but he was really just getting choked up with emotion. He’d never held a newborn before. Joey had been so little he had almost fit in Steve’s (admittedly large) hand, and Steve was sure he would break him but he hadn’t quite wanted to give him back to Ellie yet because this was his _nephew_ and gently holding new life in his hands, being _trusted_ to hold this tiny little infant, had been rejuvenating in ways he never could have imagined after so many battlefields and bullet wounds.

The lights of the corner store awning brought him back to the present, and he stepped into the interior and tapped his boots a few times on the rug to knock off excess slush from yesterday’s still-sticking snowfall. The shop owner looked up at him for a second before returning his attention to a magazine. Steve made his way to the baby supply aisle and pulled out his phone, looking at the note he’d made about diaper sizes.

“Shit,” he muttered. He’d written down the size but not the brand. He looked up at the aisle of diapers and groaned. How were there so many brands of diapers? How was it possible for diapers to be different enough from each other to merit having _this many fucking brands?_

Okay, he could just call Bucky. He bit his lip as he pulled up his contacts app. Bucky had asked him if he had the brand and size info before he left and he’d said yes. He knew it was a little stupid but he didn’t want to admit to his husband he’d fucked it up.

This was fine. He was Captain America for chrissake. He could figure out which brand to buy. He looked between the blue-with-white packaging and the white-with-blue packaging before considering the pink-and-yellow brand as compared to the yellow-and-pink one. No, he was pretty sure it was a blue package. Or… maybe that teal one?

“New dad?” a friendly voice asked next to him. He looked over in surprise at a young man wearing an oversized jacket and gray beanie.

“Uh, uncle,” Steve admitted. “We’re watching the kids while my sister-in-law and her husband are out of town.”

“Wife send you for diapers?” the guy said. Kid, really. He looked like he was barely 20.

“Husband,” Steve corrected absently. “Yeah.”

“No shit? Oh—oh damn, you’re Captain America!” the guy said, eyes widening. “Holy shit! I heard you was gay, man, but it’s fuckin’ surreal!”

“Uh, okay?” Steve said, frowning a little.

“Aw, no, brother, I don’t mean nothin’. My best bro is gay as _fuck_. He was so excited when you came out, you have no idea. Like he showed me that clip of you and your hombre and was all pumped and shit because if Captain America could be gay then why not him, you know? It was the best day of my life, back then, seein’ him so happy. We was sixteen.”

“Oh,” Steve said.

“Yeah,” the kid said, smiling fondly. “Now the best day of my life is when my little girl was born. I only buy the best shit for her, you know?” He reached out and plucked one of the blue-with-white packages of diapers off the shelf. “If you ain’t sure, go with these. Best ones on the market; my baby momma insists they’re the only ones fit for our little Lucita.”

Steve smiled and pulled the same brand from the shelf. “Thanks. What’s your name?”

“Rob,” the guy said. Steve put out his hand, and Rob shook it, grinning widely. “Hey, I know you probably get asked this all the time, so no worries but… can I get a picture with you? For my best bro? He’s gonna shit himself when he finds out I met you. You’re his hero.”

“Oh, yeah. Sure.” Steve pulled his fake glasses off of his face and posed with Rob for a selfie, and Rob insisted they both hold up their matching diaper selection for the camera. 

The photo taken, Rob looked at it and cackled with delight. “I’m gonna put this on Lucita’s nursery wall, man. She’s gonna grow up knowing her dad’s got friends in high places.”

Steve smiled crookedly at him, finding the whole interaction strangely endearing. “I better get back,” he said, putting the glasses back on. “Thanks for the advice, Rob.”

“No problem, man. Good luck with the little ones.”

Rob wandered off toward the refrigerated section of the store as Steve went to pay for the diapers.

Back at Ellie and Liam’s apartment, Steve kicked off his boots and shed his jacket and disguise, then brought the diapers back into the living room. Elena was on her feet and running to him, delighted to have him back despite his absence having been quite brief. She threw her arms around his legs and asked if he would come draw with her because “Joey and Uncle Bee are being sooo boring.”

“Of course, Lennie,” he agreed, winking. “Just let me put these in the nursery.”

Bucky was on the couch with Joey asleep on his chest, and waved lazily as Steve passed him on the way to the nursery. He said nothing about the diapers, and Steve mentally thanked Rob again as he set the new package down next to the almost-empty old one, pleased at the matching colors and brand name.

Some obnoxious kids’ show or another was on the TV as Steve settled with Elena on the living room floor, taking a clean sheet of paper and a crayon and beginning to sketch. Elena was making another scene of her family, Ellie and Liam and herself and Joey, stick figures all in a line with flowers around them. After a minute, she looked at Steve’s drawing.

“Who’s that?” she asked.

Steve smiled at the rough sketch of Rob from the store in his big coat and beanie, diapers held aloft victoriously. “Just someone I met today. Oh, I love the color you made your mom’s dress!”

“Purple is her favorite color,” Elena said seriously, turning back to her picture to start scribbling blue above her family portrait, making a sky.

Steve turned back to his drawing and shaded in some shadows and depth before being interrupted by a gentle snort from the couch. He looked up and over at Bucky, who was just as asleep now as the baby cuddled to his chest.

He got Elena’s attention and put his finger to his lips with a smile, then pointed at Bucky and Joey. She grinned, saying “aww” quietly. Steve stood up and snapped a photo, sending it to all of his sisters, Jillian, Liam, and Laura, before looking back at his sketch of Rob.

He kind of wished he’d taken a selfie with the young father on his own phone, too. There were all kinds of heroes.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos always appreciated :D
> 
> And if you have other scenes/moments/ideas for me to write, you're welcome to leave them here (or on any fic in the series). No promises, but happy to receive them and I definitely do write them, so if you're worried about whether or not it's really okay, don't be! It's okay!


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